Tightrope
by StarRee's Pen
Summary: Who said having twins is always twice the fun? Twins come to Forks and no one's lives can ever be the same. For better or for worse. Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer except what came out of my own head.
1. Bomb (S)

**A/N: Completely AU so if you see anything that is different from the Twilight universe that SM created it was not a mistake it is intentional and that I hope that you like it!**

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><p>I sat there moving the rest of my food around my plate for a lack of anything better to do. We were trying to eat a decent meal before the 3 – hour flight to Washington, but it's kind of difficult when you have your parents looking at you in disappointment while they wait for an explanation. Zarina had finished a little while ago and was now fiddling with her phone to keep from speaking first.<p>

I let out a small sigh. A little anger was justified for what we did but with the third-degree Mom and Dad were giving us you would have thought we committed a felony. A month ago, when our parents had left for a business trip, we sat down and discussed the plan for a final time. We bought the tickets later that day. 2 weeks ago our transfer papers had been approved and finalized by Forks High School, we had confirmed everything with our aunt and uncle who we would be staying with while Zarina and I were staying in Forks, and had shipped most of our major belongings in boxes to their house. 2 days ago all of the suitcases were packed and we decided to finally tell our parents what we've been doing.

Mom and Dad had gone over their itinerary with us before they left so we knew that around this time they would be in Tokyo, that negotiations for their company would take at least a week, and that the shortest amount of time it would take them to get out of Tokyo and back to Orlando would be 3 days. They usually called at around 9:30 p.m. our time so we decided to tell them then. The conversation was going as it normally did.

"Hey girls!"

"Hi Mom."

"Hold on let me hand it over to your Dad," we heard mom say. The sounds of a closing door and a whispered conversation came through the phone before we heard Dad's voice.

"Hey girls! We just put the both of you on speaker. How are you?"

"We're fine Dad. Just getting ready for bed," Zarina said to Dad as she found me in the room and held up one finger. No, not the one you're thinking about. The finger she held up was the one to indicate the first IQ. IQ stands for the 5 Inevitable Questions (when we're in a bad mood the I stands for either Irritating or Interrogation). These are the five questions that our parents ask us in the beginning of every conversation. Without fail. The day that our parents don't ask these questions they will be the bearers of bad news. Life – threatening, devastating bad news. We were planning to tell them our big news when they ask the 3rd IQ, not bothering to wait for the 4th (Anybody giving you a hard time?) or the 5th (Do you need any money?).

"It's only 9:30 girls, it's too early to go to bed. Did the two of you eat properly?" we heard our mom ask.

"Not really Mom. We are really tired today from school so we decided we might as well go to bed and we had had leftovers from yesterday for dinner," I told my mom and held up two fingers for my sister to see. I put the phone down and put it on speaker.

"True. It is Friday over there, right? How was school today?"

Strike 3. The school IQ. No more time left to stall.

"Speaking of school Dad, there's something that Samina and I need to tell you," my sister started. We heard silence on the other end. We needed to finish everything else that we had to say before they tired themselves out by jumping to conclusions. "We've enrolled in Forks High School and we plan to stay there for the rest of the school year," Zarina finished. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Cue the anger.

"Forks High School? As in Forks, Washington?" Mom said incredulously. "Why on earth would you want to go there when you are being educated at one of the finest boarding schools in the country?"

"What is the point of being educated at really great schools if we're uprooted every few months. It isn't fair to us that we can't even spend our school year with you and even when we are in school, we don't stick around long enough to make any friends. We don't like going to boarding schools," Zarina said unhappily.

"Mom, we're moving because we want at least one stable year of school before we graduate. We never complained when you wanted us to move, but this is getting ridiculous. Just because you have to move all the time doesn't mean we have to. It's decided. We're going to go to high school in Forks for the rest of our junior year and hopefully our senior year. While we're there, we'll live with Uncle Aaron and Aunt Hannah. We're going to have a good year this time," I said, finishing our side of the story.

"There's no need to go to Forks. What's wrong with staying in Florida for your junior year?" my dad got in before my mother could.

Here's something you should know about my sister. She has no ability to keep her mouth shut when she's in a temper. This was one of those times.

"So you mean to say that when you guys came back home, you were not planning on telling us that we would have to leave Orlando in the next month?" she asked sarcastically. There was half a second of silence. Caught in the act. Zarina continued, "We're not staying in Orlando because we have nobody here. We're moving to Forks to see family that we haven't seen for the last eight years and to spend the school year with the people who matter most. Any other questions?"

There was a silence on the other end. "When's your flight?" our mom asked quietly.

"Sunday morning," I replied back before Zarina could make any more snarky comments.

"We're coming over there," she said. Before we could open our mouths to protest, she and dad wished us a good night and then hung up the phone.

We didn't worry about it. To be honest, we had thought that by the time they got here we would be in Forks. Damn were we wrong. A day passed by and this morning we got a call from Mrs. Morales, the neighbor that was supposed to drop us off. Her daughter got sick and had to be taken to the doctor who "just happened" to be booked up for the rest of the day except for one opening that "just happened" to be at the same time as when we had to be dropped off at the airport. Don't you just love freak coincidences like this? (Note the sarcasm). Well at least she had the decency to apologize.

After she hung up, we were scrambling around trying to see if there was anybody that would be able to drop us off. And we did mean _anybody_. The only requirements we had were that they had to be alive and that they have to have a driver's license. Then the doorbell rang.

I left my sister, who was standing in the garage next to the suitcases going through our contact lists, and went to open the door. There's some God out there who has a wicked sense of humor. My parents were standing outside the door holding the keys to their car. You could feel the smugness rolling off them in waves.

My sister came and saw who was at the door. She took the keys and we all went to load the bags in silence. We drove to the airport and checked in in silence. And we came back to where we are now: eating in, you guessed it, silence.

Saying nothing for nearly 4 hours in this family is just a ticking time bomb waiting to burst. Z and I were not saying anything because we just couldn't deal with our parents right now. The intercom sounded: Flight 0395 Gate # 23 departing to Seattle will leave in 1 hour.

Tick, tick,…BOOM!


	2. Decision (Z)

The first thought that came in my head after the intercom announcement: this silent treatment is getting old.

"Are you going to yell at us?" I winced as my sister kicked my shin from underneath the table. "Because if you are, it would be better for your system to just get it out now," I said.

Mom turned to look directly at me. "Would you like us to yell at you in the middle of a very crowded airport Zarina?" she said in a dry tone with her eyebrow raised. "Because I could but I would rather have some questions answered first."

"Fire away Mom," I said as I sat on the edge of my seat. Interrogation with our parents rarely ever worked in our favor but I could hope that we would make the flight with as little family drama as possible. My sister took a sip from her drink and settled into her chair for question time.

"How long have you been planning for this trip to Forks?" Dad asked, partly mediating between Mom and I and partly out of his own curiosity. I couldn't help but smile. Trust Dad to want to know all the answers before settling on a course of action, just like a true businessman. My sister and I believe that it is not blood cells but briefcases and profit-loss statements that run through his veins.

"We actually made the resolution to do this at the beginning of the new year. It took us a few months to set everything up but before we could buy the tickets, a report come on one of the news stations. It was the one about the missing people and all of the killings that were in Seattle," Samina said, seeing no reason to hide the truth now. "Seeing the pictures and the names of the victims scared us to the point of putting off the trip until the whole had died down," she paused, remembering all of the graphic photos that we ended up seeing whenever we went online to check if the serial killer had been found yet.

Realizing that she was lost in thought, I continued to tell Mom and Dad about our plans. "So we waited until about mid - June to go because by then school had ended and the paper had reported that the gang that had been behind all of the murders had been put behind bars. But then you guys took to spend an amazing summer in Canada and then you told us that we were moving. Again. So by the time we packed up from Colorado and moved down to Florida it was November and then you told us that you had to go to Tokyo for a few weeks. We mulled over going for a long time that night. Then we decided to just go for it; if we wanted to go then we would have to go now before we put it off again So the day you left we got the tickets and then we worked on the transfer papers and then the ball kept on rolling," I said, letting just a little bit of pride seep into my voice. Our parents have managed to make stealth an art form and, sadly, the genes skipped a generation. The fact that we managed to make it to this point without either of them suspecting is all thanks to a ton of lucky breaks.

Dad was silent for a moment as he thought about the explanation that we had given. "But if you were so determined to keep this a secret from us, then why did you call us yesterday to let us know about your plans?" he asked.

Mom looked as if she was about to tack on to the question when Dad suddenly grabbed her wrist and gave her a gentle squeeze. A silent plea asking her to not interrupt. When he did that, it was as if Mom's eyes flashed a bright red, as if in warning. I blinked positive that I was seeing something that wasn't even there. And sure enough, when I opened my eyes there was nothing out of the ordinary about Mom's eyes. Except for the fact that they were narrowed in irritation. They were still the same light brown that I have seen for as long as I can remember. I shook my head slightly. The stress of this ordeal must finally be getting to me if I'm picturing my mother's eyes to be the color of a stop sign.

Looking at my watch, I realized that nearly ten minutes have passed since they made the announcement about our flight boarding and Dad is still asking questions that require long - drawn out responses. Bye - bye flight...it was nice knowing you.

I shrugged as Samina gathered the mess from our lunch and went to throw it in the trash. "You would have found out eventually. Telling you a little early just helped to soothe our guilty consciences."

Samina came back to her seat just as Dad finally seemed to notice that Mom was giving him her 'Are you kidding me?' stare as she held up her wrist. Dad quickly removed his hand and murmured something that I didn't catch. Mom let out a big sigh, but her glare relaxed. Then her eyes turned to look at Sia and I, as if she was trying to figure out the best course of action, and then her eyes slipped back to Dad. "You're going to let them go," she said in a tone of voice that could only be described as neutral, not angry but not exactly jumping for joy either.

"Diana, they've planned this for 11 months, they informed us before they left, and they postponed going to Washington until they felt that they would be safe. It might be a little earlier than we had planned but they have proved that they are ready," Dad said.

"But Aryan, sending them off alone - "

"But they won't be alone. Aaron and Hannah will be there to watch over them. And you know Embry and Quil will be the over protective brothers that they pretty much are."

It took me a minute to process what was happening: Dad didn't mind that we were going to Forks at all, and in fact he was even trying to convince Mom to let us go too! I looked over at her to see what she would say but while Dad had been talking Mom had turned towards the window that overlooked the runway. She was watching as the airplanes took off and as she followed them with her eyes I doubted whether she had even heard a word Dad had said. I was just about to start poking her on the shoulder when she spoke.

"Are you sure that this is what you want?" she asked softly. She turned to face both of us. Her solemn face caught me off guard. "Because once you go, there will be no packing up and starting over at a new school. If you want Forks High School to be the school you graduate from, then there will be no changing your mind 2 weeks later or doing something like this behind our backs when you start having second thoughts. We get your point that you don't want to make another move, so I'm asking you again: are you sure that going to Forks is what you want?"

The "yes" flowed out of my mouth as soon as she finished with Samina's echo a beat behind me. "We promise," I said. "No more behind your back stuff and even if it isn't everything that we had hoped it would be, we won't move again."

"Wild horses would not be able to drag us away if they tried," Sia said with a relieved laugh.

Mom gave a little smirk as she said, "I think you will have to be more wary of the wild wolves than horses."

"Now that everything's settled," Dad said as he stood up, "Let's get you on the plane. You are getting late and I am sure security is going to be a mess. Let's go check in your bags," he said as he took two of the suitcases to check in.

The pessimism crept back in as soon as I saw the check - in line. We couldn't possibly be able to get through this, security, and the walk to the gate in time to make the flight. But Dad didn't appear to be fazed. He marched right up to one of the attendants and started speaking to them. After a frazzled phone call and the attendants scrambling around for a couple of minutes, they had opened up another station and Dad was signaling to us to bring the remaining bags. 5 minutes later we were walking to security and one of the officers walked us over to a new line to start checking our tickets.

"How are you making all this happen? Our record when it comes to security is at least 20 minutes but you have them waiting on you like you own the airline," I said incredulously.

Dad laughed. "Your mother and I are very important customers to the airline Zarina. If we were treated badly I can only imagine the phone calls that some employees would be receiving," he said as he handed over the carry-ons. He turned back to us. "Well, you two are the only things that need to go through."

"Do you have everything that you might need in your carry on? Jackets, change of clothes, chargers?" she asked as she started to braid my hair. I didn't argue that it would take too long because I knew Mom was able to braid faster than anyone else I knew.I handed her the hair tie that was on my wrist as I assured that we packed properly. Sia added that we would call them as soon as we reached our layover in Chicago.

Mom finished my braid and moved to do Samina's as she commented about the possibility of a snow storm in that area. "I'm sure that our connecting flight will leave Chicago before we get stuck in it but we'll keep a look out," replied Samina.

I hear Dad come behind me and turn to give him a hug. Samina and Mom come to join us a few seconds later. "Take care of each other and promise me that you will be safe," Mom said as she took a step back so that she could kiss our foreheads and give her another hug. We nodded in agreement and after giving us one last hug Dad went to stand beside her. "Will we see you this Christmas?" Samina asked suddenly.

I knew the "We'll see" was coming a second before Mom said it. It was to be expected. They dropped everything in Tokyo to come deal with us and when they go back, the two of them will have to be in complete damage control mode. It could take a while before they are able to fix everything. Samina nodded her head and we walked towards the conveyor belt and began placing all of our things in the plastic bins. I was about to pass through the metal detectors when I heard Dad's voice.

"Have fun in Forks. We love you both." He and Mom were holding hands and waving at us from the other side of the barricade. "Love you too," we replied at the same time. The next few minutes were a blur of putting our jackets and shoes back on and putting everything back into our bags. By the time we had finished, the train that would take us to the gate was coming closer and they were almost out of sight. We gave them one last wave before running to get inside.

The next few minutes blurred together after the train reached the other side of the airport. We ran towards our gate while attempting to pull out our boarding passes. We didn't let ourselves relax until we were waved through by the attendants, had put away our bags, and clicked the seat belt into place.

I tried to calm my heavy breathing as Samina sent a quick text to our parents to let them know that we got on the plane. "I could have sworn that its been more than 30 minutes since the boarding announcement," she said as she switched off her phone.

I shrugged as I did the same with my own. "Maybe the universe listened to us and delayed it for a little while. It's just another thing to be thankful for. But forget about the flight," I said turning to look at her. "Was it just me or was their reaction better than what you expected?"

Sia nodded. "No,I thought that too. If I didn't know any better than I would say that they were waiting for something like this to happen. I think they were shocked that we actually put some thought into instead of it just being a spur of the moment plan."

I hummed in agreement as I looked out the window. The plane started to move as I voiced another question that was on my mind. "Did we do the right thing?"

I could feel Samina's incredulous gaze on the back of my head. "Are you serious right now?" she she seemed to realize we were in public. "You're having second thoughts?!" she said trying to keep her volume under control.

"No, but -" I paused trying to find the words. I thought about Dad's easy acceptance and Mom's warnings to be safe. "Something about this just feels wrong."

"Different," she said correcting me. "It doesn't feel wrong Zarina, just different. That's why we did this. Because we need different. You're just nervous. I promise by the time we get to Forks you won't even remember feeling this way," she said so sure of herself that I had to look at her. "So to answer your question: I don't think we did the right thing," she said as she bumped my shoulder with hers. "I know we did the right thing," she said with a smile.

And as the plane left the ground, I smiled back. My sister's reassurance driving away the doubt from my mind as I settled back into my seat to enjoy the ride.

* * *

><p>Diana waved at her daughters until they disappeared behind the wall. Her husband's hand moved from her hand to go around her shoulders as she let out the breath that she had been holding since she entered the airport. "Did we do the right thing?" she asked as they walked through the airport.<p>

Aryan kept looking forward as he answered. "I don't know. But at this point it's about choosing the lesser of the two evils. The chances of them finding out before we get there are slim so we will be there when they start noticing things are not what they seem."

Diana sucked in a breath as she passed by a crowd of people while Aryan hugged her to his side with a little more force. When they were well away, they both relaxed. "I know Hannah and Aaron told us that they will explain away as much as they could and the boys agreed to be more wary of their shifting but I can't help feeling that something is still going to go wrong."

"We will just have to take the future as it comes," Aryan replied as they reached the car. He reached for the pocket that had the keys when he saw them being dangled by in front of his face. "There is no way that you are driving my car," he said as he made to snatch the keys away.

Diana smirked as walked to the driver's side. "Actually, me driving your precious car is the perfect punishment for suddenly grabbing my wrist at the airport," she said, unlocking the door and sitting at the wheel. "You nearly broke my concentration from startling me like that and how would that have looked to our girls to see their parents look brown one second and then white the next," she said smugly.

Aryan sighed, knowing she had him beat, and went to sit in the passenger's seat. "You're right and I apologized earlier but I would appreciate it if you could wait until we get away from civilization before you use your favored speed."

Hands gripped the side of his face before he felt her lips on his. He pulled back before they got carried away in a parking lot where anyone could see them. Diana opened her eyes and could almost see the red color reflected in his golden ones. "Duly noted," she said, revving the engine.


End file.
